Jeri Smith-Ready

This event was first organized by author Colleen Houck to give readers advance peeks at exclusive bonus material from their favorite authors. (During the winter hunt, I posted the gut-wrenching first chapter of SHINE, provoking tears and screams all across the internetz. Sorry! If it helps, my bonus content for this Scavenger Hunt is sort of a sequel to the first chapter. It may ease your fears for Zachary...or not.)

In the Scavenger Hunt, not only will you get exclusive content and hopefully learn about some great new (or new-to-you) authors, but you can also win some amazing prizes. At each stop, pick up a clue for the hunt. Add up the clues, then enter to win--one lucky winner will receive 20 signed books, one book from each author on each of three teams: Red, Yellow, and Blue. But play fast: this contest (and all the exclusive bonus material) will only be online for 72 hours!

That's right, there are 3 contests going on simultaneously, and you can enter all three for a total prize bucket of SIXTY signed books! I am a part of the RED TEAM (which makes me think of the scrumptious Dolvett from Biggest Loser, but I digress).

Check out the YA Scavenger Hunt homepage for links to all the authors participating and a list of the prizes up for grabs. If you get stuck at any point during the hunt, visit the I'm stuck! page to find out what to do next.

SCAVENGER HUNT PUZZLE

Directions: Hidden within my post is a single letter colored red. Make a note of that letter, because it's a part of a scrambled phrase. When you go to all the author sites of the Red Team, you'll have all the letters you need to enter the contest. Each post should have a link at the bottom leading to another member of the Red Team.

Entry Form: Once you piece together all the clues to the hunt, fill out the form for the grand prize. Only entries that have the completed phrase will qualify.

Rules: Open internationally. Readers under 18 should have a parent or guardian's permission to enter. To be eligible for the grand prize, you must submit the completed entry form by April 1st, at noon Pacific Time. Entries sent without the correct puzzle code or without contact information will not be considered.

So that's the deal. Are you ready for another dose of bonus awesome? Keep reading!

I am delighted to host Elana Johnson, author of POSSESSION and the upcoming SURRENDER (June 5, Simon Pulse).

About the Author: Elana wishes she could experience her first kiss again, tell the mean girl where to shove it, and have cool superpowers like reading minds and controlling fire. Using her boring human powers, she graduated from Southern Utah University with Summa Cum Laude honors in Elementary Education with a minor in Mathematics.

In her world, Oreos and bacon would be the only food groups. Everyone would drive 10 over the speed limit, and winter would be eliminated as a season.

Find out more at elanajohnson.com.

About SURRENDER:

The thrilling and seductive sequel to POSSESSION puts love on the line in a dystopian struggle for independent thought. Forbidden love, intoxicating power, and the terror of control…

Raine has always been a good girl. She lives by the rules in Freedom. After all, they are her father’s rules: He’s the Director. It’s because of him that Raine is willing to use her talent—a power so dangerous, no one else is allowed to know about it. Not even her roommate, Vi.

All of that changes when Raine falls for Gunner. Raine’s got every reason in the world to stay away from Gunn, but she just can’t. Especially when she discovers his connection to Vi’s boyfriend, Zenn.

Raine has never known anyone as heavily brainwashed as Vi. Raine’s father expects her to spy on Vi and report back to him. But Raine is beginning to wonder what Vi knows that her father is so anxious to keep hidden, and what might happen if she helps Vi remember it. She’s even starting to suspect Vi’s secrets might involve Freedom’s newest prisoner, the rebel Jag Barque….

Elana's exclusive content is a character readers will see in SURRENDER, the sequel to POSSESSION, which is coming on June 5, 2012. His name is Cannon Lichen, and he's matched to the narrating main character, Raine Hightower.




Both Raine and Cannon are part of The Insider's Case Files, a booklet of exclusive art and character facts you can enter to win at Elana's blog. There will only be 50 of these printed, and the content will never be released online, so you definitely want to check it out. Find out more about the booklet here and read the rules for entry here.

And that's not all! You can enter to win a signed hardcover or an e-copy (Kindle or Nook) of POSSESSION by tweeting that you've seen this exclusive content on the Red loop of the YA Scavenger Hunt. Click here. Then click "Tweet." (Note: you might need to log in to Twitter after the first click if you're not already logged in.)

MEGA-SHADE GIVEAWAY

Though I'm giving away a signed copy of SHINE (SHADE trilogy Book 3) as part of the Red Team Grand Prize, for my own hosted giveaway I'd like to give new readers who may not have heard of me a chance to start the SHADE trilogy from the beginning.

So I'm giving away TEN copies of SHADE (Book One). Because why not? They are perched on my shelf, hoping someone will give them a loving home. Sometimes late at night, I think I hear them sigh.

Giveaway is open to international entries.